Chapter One. Maria Vai Com As Outras (Monkey See, Monkey Do)

The turn of the twentieth century witnessed a major increase in the departure of Portuguese migrants. In Argentina, Portuguese migrants were part of a multiethnic influx of laborers that began arriving in large numbers during the last quarter of the nineteenth century attracted by the possibilities of work and settlement, and encouraged by migratory policies devised to attract European labor and population. In addition to a shift in regional origins, Portuguese immigration during the second phase was characterized by a wider spatial distribution in Argentina. Unlike Portuguese migrants during the colonial time and early national period, those who arrived during the second phase settled over a larger geographic space that was no longer confined to the city of Buenos Aires and its immediate hinterland.Keywords: Argentina; Portuguese migrants